Category Archives: direct democracy

Minnesota Law Review Symposium on Ballot Initiatives

July 22, 2013, 7:28 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

Foreword, Minnesota Law Review Symposium by Tom Pryor Read More :: View PDF When Common Wisdom Is Neither Common nor Wisdom: Exploring Voters’ Limited Use of Endorsements on Three Ballot Measures by Craig M. Burnett and Mathew D. McCubbins Ballot… Continue reading

“Power from the people: Does the Supreme Court’s gay-marriage ruling threaten direct democracy?”

July 5, 2013, 8:19 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

The Economist reports.

“Worries Swirl Over California’s Initiatives; Supreme Court’s Dismissal of State’s Gay-Marriage Ban Raises Concerns that the Move Sets Precedent Limiting Voter Power”

July 1, 2013, 8:33 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

The Wall Street Journal reports, quoting me, among others, on serious problems for California’s initiative process with the Proposition 8 decision of the Supreme Court last week.

NYT’s “Room for Debate” Asks if More Cities Should Have Initiatives

June 19, 2013, 12:00 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

See here.

Local Virginia Officials Deny DOJ Request to Inspect Polls

June 7, 2013, 7:34 amdirect democracy, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

“Too disruptive,” Augusta County officials say, apparently about investigation into a possible problem related to access to polling for the disabled.

“Can Initiatives Be Used to Regulate the Manner of Selecting Presidential Electors, and Can Initiative Proponents Defend in Federal Court?”

May 14, 2013, 7:44 amdirect democracy, Elections ClauseRick Hasen

Vik Amar has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We have now had more than a century to assess America’s initiative device, and the Progressive movement of which it was an outgrowth. Beginning with South Dakota in… Continue reading

“House GOP slams Justice Department as racist, mismanaged; Sheila Jackson Lee pushes back”

April 17, 2013, 7:24 amdirect democracy, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The Houston Chronicle reports.

“DOJ Responds to Vitter on Voting Issue That Could Hinder Perez Nomination”

March 23, 2013, 10:04 pmdirect democracy, NVRA (motor voter), The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Roll Call: “The Justice Department responded Friday to Sen. David Vitter’s request for more information about its enforcement of a federal voter registration law — a response the Louisiana Republican demanded before deciding whether to drop his threat… Continue reading

CA Voters Attitudes on the Initiative Process

March 21, 2013, 7:17 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

From a new PPIC survey: Strong Support for the citizens’ Initiative—and for Reforming the Process Consistent with this preference for giving the electorate the final say on state tax increases, 72 percent of likely voters say it is a… Continue reading

Initial Thoughts on the Inspector General Report on the Voting Rights Section of DOJ

March 12, 2013, 10:28 pmdirect democracy, election administration, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have now had a chance to give an initial read to the mammoth report of the IG on the voting rights section and I have some thoughts which could change upon closer scrutiny (news reports at NYT, LAT… Continue reading

“California lawmakers avoid campaign contribution limits with ballot measure accounts”

March 11, 2013, 7:36 amcampaign finance, direct democracyRick Hasen

The Sacramento Bee reports. This is not a new problem. I’ve written about campaign finance issues surrounding candidate controlled ballot measure committees in this Southern California Law Review article.

“Local Ballot Initiatives: How citizens change laws with clipboards, conversations, and campaigns”

January 30, 2013, 4:58 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

Leslie Graves of the Lucy Burns Institute sends along the following: I thought you might be interested in a publication we just released: Local Ballot Initiatives: How citizens change laws with clipboards, conversations, and campaigns. It provides an overview… Continue reading

“The Promise and Limits of Citizens’ Assemblies: Deliberation, Institutions and the Law of Democracy”

November 29, 2012, 2:38 pmcitizen commissions, direct democracyRick Hasen

Michael Pal has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Queens Law Journal). Here is the abstract: Recent experiments with deliberative democracy in British Columbia and Ontario have brought new life to the debate over electoral reform in Canada and have… Continue reading

Interpreting Initiatives

November 13, 2012, 12:24 pmdirect democracy, statutory interpretationRick Hasen

Michael Gilbert has posted this draft on SSRN (Minnesota Law Review). Here is the abstract: Judges claim to resolve ambiguities in initiatives by identifying and giving force to “voter intent,” but scholars reject that on the ground that such intent… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law